Search

Despite the rain today I think (hope) it’s safe to say that spring is finally really here. Of course that means better biking weather! It also means that more cycling-related stuff is happening.

• The folks at Ride Richmond are gearing up (sorry for the worn out pun) for Bike Week. Events include a festival of short films focused on cycling. Submissions are invited until 4/15, and those selected will be screened 4/27 at Movie Loft, a new film-screening space in downtown Richmond (yay!). Also coming up is the annual Bike Swap at the VMFA on 4/21. See this Ride Richmond post for more details.

• Yet another Bike Week event is a screening at the Byrd of Reveal the Path, a new documentary. The film’s web site describes it thus:

Reveal the Path is a genre-defying adventure film that contemplates what it means to live an inspired life using the bicycle as a mechanism to explore, dream and discover. Regions explored include Scotland’s lush valleys, Europe’s snow capped mountains, Morocco’s high desert landscapes, Nepal’s rural countryside and Alaska’s rugged coastal beaches. Ride along and get lost in the wonders of the world… Meet the locals living modest yet seemingly fulfilling lives, leading us to question what it means to live an inspired life – however humble or extravagant. Filmed across four continents and featuring Tour Divide race legends, Matthew Lee & Kurt Refsnider, this immersive film is sure to ignite the dream in you.

Proceeds will benefit Ride Richmond. See the event Facebook page for more details.

• As noted in my previous post, this spring is also bringing a new, full-time bicycle and pedestrian advocate to Richmond. RVA News has now published an interview with Max Hepp-Buchanan, the recently hired director of Sports Backers’ BikeWalk RVA initiative. I’m encouraged by what the piece reports as Hepp-Buchanan’s recognition that bike lanes and sharrows are not enough to get most people who don’t already bike onto the streets.

• Spring in Richmond also apparently brings the birth of new bike blogs! In addition to the recently-launched Ride RVA, we now have Pedal RVA. The blogger describes it as follows:

Kicking and screaming, Richmond, Virginia is slowly but surely being transformed into a bicycle-friendly city. We will document the transformation by riding and reporting on the changes we see. It might be a slow start, but the people of RVA are energized and ready to make it happen. Witness it here.

Just like the city’s various cycling organizations, Richmond’s bike blogs have overlapping interests but distinctive approaches and areas of emphasis. Perhaps it’s getting to the point that we need a single site from which people can access all cycling-related information and blogs in RVA. Even more ideally, it could be the site for an umbrella group that would bring together the city’s bicycling organizations together as a more effective lobbying and organizing force.